Navy and Gold
by alias093001
Summary: He fell for her at a Quidditch match. Now he's about to make the biggest decision of his life at one. An entry for the Twin Exchange's Summer Lovin' Challenge.


_Written for Twin Exchange's Summer Lovin' Challege_.

Pairing: Hermione/Oliver

Prompt: Ribbons

Quote: "What were you thinking?"

Theme: Quidditch Match

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><p><strong>Navy and Gold<strong>

From his perch between the goal posts, he could see her in the crowd, her mane of brown hair blowing in the wind. But, it wasn't so much her hair that caught his attention, but what was in it; navy and gold ribbons: Puddlemere colors. Oh, she was really tempting him now. This was his first game of the season…well, the first where he would be starting Keeper. This was his chance to show the world what all of Gryffindor knew at Hogwarts when Charlie Weasley recruited him to the team. And, to his delight, she would be right there to cheer him on; just as she had during his last three years at Hogwarts.

Granted, she was always more focused on the goings on of his Seeker – nor was she all that fond of Quidditch – but still; her presence in the stands always comforted the Keeper, knowing that she was out there keeping things fair. And now, here she was giving him the support he needed to get through this game. Pulling his attention away from the stands and the bushy-haired witch, the Puddlemere Keeper turned his attention to the game.

The game had proved to be quite a challenge for Puddlemere United's new starting Keeper. He spent the majority of the afternoon zigzagging across the goalposts in an attempt to keep the score low. And, as the Snitch was caught by the Wimbourne Wasps' Seeker, Oliver Wood was just blocking a shot one of their Chasers lobbed towards him with enormous force. Casting a glance at the scoreboard, he was quick to realize that Puddlemere won. Had he not blocked that shot, for Puddlemere outscored Wimbourne by a hefty margin, they might have lost. Now that he knew that it was that blocked shot that helped them win the game, Oliver began flying circles around the stadium in celebration of the win. He was able to circle the stadium twice before spotting the navy and gold ribbons again.

On impulse, Oliver maneuvered his broom over to where she was seated and pulled her out of her seat. Her friends began calling out to him as she began screaming at him. "Put me down!" she ordered.

"I don't think so, Granger," he replied.

"And why not?" the witch asked.

"Because this is the only way I'm ever going to get you up in the air," Oliver countered as they circled the Pitch. "I told you I was going to get you up in the air one day."

"I'm afraid of heights!" Hermione yelled in his ear.

"What better time to get over that fear than right now," Oliver insisted. He had known for a long time that the bushy-haired witch was afraid of heights. It was something he hoped to break her of. And yet, Hermione still opted to spend her time yelling at him for pulling her up in the air.

"The fear is a crippling one, Wood!" Hermione shouted, tightening her grip around his waist. It was to the point where he could barely feel his lower extremities between the whipping wind and Hermione holding onto him so tightly. "_What were you thinking_?"

"I was thinking that it was time for you to get used to flying," he said.

"Not going to happen," Hermione insisted. "Now let me down!"

Given that she would not stop screaming in his ear; Oliver landed the broom at the side of the pitch where the Weasleys and Harry were standing. As soon as they touched ground, Hermione scrambled off the broom, glaring at Oliver as she did. This earned a few chuckles from the Weasley twins. _Glad they can get a good laugh from my misfortune_, he thought. _They know my plan was ruined. _The Quidditch player shrugged it off and looked at his girlfriend of three years. "You'll have to get used to it some time, my dear," he stated confidently.

"What makes you so sure?" she asked.

"Because we're going to be together for a _long_ time," he insisted.

Hermione looked at him in confusion. Oliver knew that she was utterly clueless by what he meant. Being around her made the Keeper realize that, despite her intelligence, she was not all that knowledgeable about love. "And what makes you say that?" she wondered.

Oliver pointed at her hand, the left hand in particular. It took quite a bit of finagling on his part – between Hermione's complaining and the gusting winds – but he was able to do what he needed. Honestly, he was surprised that he was able to achieve that much. Hermione was a wreck in the air. As he pointed at her hand, Oliver could see a dark-haired young witch looking at him warily, her bright emerald eyes blazing; it was almost as if she knew what he was doing. She nodded slightly, though Oliver was not sure why. Oliver chose to ignore the gesture, turning back to Hermione. "You might want to look down at your hand."

She looked down, eyes widening at the rock on her finger.

"She's in shock!" a male voice exclaimed.

"And she has every reason to be," a female voice pointed out.

Taking her hand in his, Oliver knelt down, tossing his broom over to the side as he did. "I thought this would be appropriate considering how our relationship first began." His mind drifted to that day so many years ago when Hermione helped them out during the middle of the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff match. Even though they lost that match to Hufflepuff, one good thing came out of it; Oliver Wood had fallen for Hermione Granger.

The strange thing was that he didn't even realize that he did. It wasn't until those rumors cropped up during the Tri-Wizard Tournament about her being romantically linked to Harry and later Viktor Krum that Oliver realized he was in love with the younger witch. She was at least four years his junior. The whole thing seemed completely improbable, until a mutual friend pushed them together. It had been six years since then and Oliver was still as in love with Hermione as he was when he was seventeen. His love for Hermione began at a Quidditch match and that was where he wanted it to be professed.

"Oliver," she whispered shakily.

The Puddlemere Keeper looked up at his bushy-haired girlfriend. She seemed almost afraid by what he was about to say. And, to be honest, Oliver was a little afraid of this as well. But, he was not willing to let that fear bother him. He wanted to do this. When he first planned this, there was an instance where he considered waiting until the end of the Quidditch season to do this, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. It needed to be done now. "Hermione, will you marry me?"

"That's what I thought you were going to do," she whispered.

"And your answer?" he asked.

To everyone's surprise, Hermione was silent for a long time. It was shocking to see the young witch so speechless, especially twice in the span of five minutes. "Well?" the group behind them asked.

Oliver was beginning to regret doing this in front of her friends. Fred and George seemed impatient to know what was going on, despite their own girlfriends being around, in an attempt to rein in their antics. George might have given his acquiescence to do so, but Fred was a bit more difficult. "Would you two keep quiet?" George's girlfriend asked. "Hermione has every right to think this over a bit. You know what their relationship has been like."

Oh, it was a strange one to be sure. Nothing in the world had prepared him for dating Hermione Granger. The few relationships he had during his Hogwarts years were nothing compared to trying to date a girl who was as dedicated as he was to Quidditch; only, she was focused on the rights of magical creatures. "I _am_ curious to hear your answer," Oliver said.

"Answer!" the twins called.

"Yes," she replied.

As Oliver pulled himself up to kiss her, fireworks could be heard being set off behind them. _That_ was the twins. No matter who tried to stop them, there was no way that this could have been prevented. Oliver looked up at the fireworks, only to see blue and gold ribbons cascading around them. When they finished falling, a pattern could be seen around them. The navy blue ribbons had formed the letter _O_ while the gold ribbons did the same for the letter _H_. Clearly they had been planning this for quite awhile. Oliver and Hermione turned to face the group behind them, smiles on each of their faces. As his fiancée told them the good news, Oliver couldn't help but notice something strange. Despite her insistence that she was not a fan of Quidditch, that was the basis of their relationship. He fell for her at a Quidditch match and now she said she would marry him at one.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: This turned out a lot different than I expected it would be. <strong>


End file.
